Method and apparatus for preparing leaf tobacco



June 7, 1932. w. w. MICHAUX. JR

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR PREPARING LEAF TOBACCO Filed Sept. 11. 1930 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Q I INVENTOR ou 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 June 7, 1932. w. w. MICHAUX. JR

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR PREPARING LEAF TOBACCO Filed Sept. 11. 19:50

Patented June 7, 1932 UNITED STATES WILLIAM W. MIGHAUX, JR., MIOHAUX, VIRGINIA METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR PREPARING LEAF TOBACCO Application filed September 11, 1930. Serial Nor-181,176.

This invention relates to the treatment of tobacco preparatory to its manufacture into tobacco products, and is particularly concerned with a method and apparatus for blending and conditioning the tobacco into redrying plants.

The tobaccoto be treated at the redrying plant after its purchase from the growers is usually in the form of bundles of raw, leaf N tobacco, and in the redrying plant it is blended and dried. In most such redrying plants, the tobacco is brought in from the warehouse in separate baskets each containing tobacco taken from a separate lot. These baskets are then placed alongside a moving belt conveyor and a man is stationed at each basket. As the belt passes each man, he lays a certain portion of his tobacco on the belt,

the result at the far end of the belt being fa blended batch made up of bundles taken from all the severallots. Upon reaching this end of the belt, the pile of separate loose bundles is taken off into other baskets which are carried some distance to a hanging room where each bundle or hand of tobacco is taken out separately by hand and a number of these hands hung on sticks supported on hanging racks. After enough such loaded sticks have accumulated, they are taken down from the rack by hand, piled on push trucks and these trucks are then rolled some distance to the redrying apparatus to be fed therein by hand.

This method of handling the tobacco in the redrying process thus involves a large number of distinct, separate manipulations, necessitating the employment of a large number of laborers and extensive floor space.

It is the chief Object of the present invention to provide a method of handling leaf tobacco in redrying 01' conditioning plants whereby the number of steps required to get the tobacco ready for the redrying apparatus will be substantially reduced, with a consequent reduction in the number of attendants and the amount of floor space, as well as the time required for blending the tobacco and delivering it to the drying apparatus.

It is also an object of the present invention to provide a suitable apparatus which may be used in carrying out this method which will be simple and rugged and relatively low in initial cost and cost of maintenance, yet of large capacity and speedy and accurate in operation, and practically fool-proof. 56

In. order that a more detailed understanding of iny invention may be obtained, my improved method and apparatus will now be described in conjunction with the accompanying drawings illustrating the preferred form so of means for carrying out my invention. In these drawings Figure 1 is a plan view;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation;

Fig. 3 is a detailed perspective of the con- 05 veyor chain'employed in the apparatus;

Fig. 4 is a sectional detail of the feed hopper of the apparatus on line 44 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 5 is a detail View showing the operating mechanism for the feed hopper;

Fig. 6 is a sectional view on line 66, Fig.

2; and

Fig. 7 is a longitudinal section on line 77, Fig; 1.

The construction of an apparatus for use in carrying out my improved method will now be described. The apparatus comprises primarily a conveyor extending across the room and with its delivery end preferably adj acent the drying machine.

The tobacco baskets, each containing a portion of a separate lot of tobacco, are brought either from the warehouse or from the receiving room, into the room where the tobacco is to be prepared, and are arranged in two 35 ranks, 1 and 2, along each side of the conveyor, leaving a space between the adjacent baskets of'each rank sufficient for an attendant to stand in.

At the end of the conveyor which is away 90 from the drying machine, there is located an elevated platform 3, which bears an open top container or hopper 4. This hopper is preferably constructed as shown in Fig. 4. It is I, adapted to contain and feed out the long wooden sticks or hangers 5, upon which the bundles of tobacco are supported in the drying machine, and to this end it has a slanting side '6 and a re-entrant side 7 forming an outlet channel 8, so that sticks placed in the box from either side will be fed down to the outlet 8 by gravity. These sticks 5 are.

usually splits, but may be rounds, squares or other forms of relatively long wooden rods 6 of about the size of a broom handle. The splits are of a trapezoidal cross-section, as shown in Fig. 4, and it is desirable, though not necessary, that they be placed in the machine with the thinner edge up.

As the feed mechanism for the sticks inverts them in the course of itsoperation, the sticks are placed in the hopper with their narrow edges down. The feed mechanism is shown in detail in Figs. 4 and 5. It comprises the hopper above described, which is provided with vanes or partitions 70 dividing the hopper into a series of channels connected at their lower ends with theoutlet' channel 8. Beneath the hopper and normally closing the bottom of the channel 8 is a rotating drum 71 having peripheral pockets adapted to periodically register with the bottom of the channel 8 to receive the sticks therefrom. These pockets 72 are large enough to 2 receive the largest sticks that may be employed, and on the rear side of the pocket in the'direction of rotation of the drum the edge of the pocket is beveled oil as indicated at 73, so that the pocket will not catch against the bottom stick in the hopper and thereby stop the rotation of the feed drum. The sticks lie loosely in the feed channel and can be readily elevated by the beveled surface.

7 3 the slight distance necessary for the drum to rotate freely.

A shield 74 is provided on one side of the feed drum to retain the sticks in the pockets during the rotation of the drum through an arc of 180. The drum is operated intermit- 4 tently and in timed relation with the movement of the conveyor by means of a Geneva gear illustrated in Fig. 5. As shown, the drum has six pockets 72 and the Geneva gear is correspondingly designed to feed the drum one-sixth of a rotation at each operation. The

driving member 75 of the Geneva gear is driven directly from the conveyor by any suitable driving means, for example by a belt 76 extending around guide pulleys 77 (see Fig. 2) to a pulley 78 supported on the shaft of one of the, conveyor-carrying pulleys. The driving mechanism is so timed that for each complete rotation of the member 75 the conveyor will have advanced a distance slightly greater than the length of the sticks.

The conveyor serves to support and translate the sticks in a direction parallel to their longer axis. passing them' along between the ranks of tobacco. "It consists of an endless chain 8 supported on a frameworkmounted on rollers. The frame may be made in any desired manner, and is here shown as comprising two longitudinals 9, connected at suitable intervals by cross members 10. To each u of the cross members 10 a pair of posts 17 whose top edges project to a substantial dis tance above the cross members.

At intervals in the length of the frame the side members 13 and the plank 11 are slotted as shown in Fig. 6 to receive cross bolts 15 on which are mounted planks 16 fitting between the side members and the plank 11 and thereby forming troughs 14 on each side of the plank 11 whose depth is adjustable, as will be obvious.

Longitudinals 19 are also preferably provided along the outer edges of the member 9 and diagonal braces 20 extend from the ends of the members 10 to the bottom edges of the planks 13, the several frame members being fastened solidly together by suitable bolts, not shown.

The longitudinal members of the frame are preferably made of sections bolted together at their abutting ends as indicated at 12 in Fig. 2, for convenience in setting up and also to permit the length of the machine'to be readily altered to suit dillerent installations.

The upper edge of the plank 11 is faced in any suitable manner with a metal wear plate 21 grooved as shown to receive and guide the conveyor chain 8.

The bottom side of each cross bar 10, near each end thereof, is provided with aswivel caster 20, in order that the framework may be rolled along or swung about on the floor in any desired manner, and it may be pushed back against the wall to make more room on the floor, on occasion.

At one end of the framework, there is provided a shaft 21 mounted in bearings 22 attached'to'the upper ends of the end posts 17. Attached to this shaft is a grooved wheel 23. of a relatively large diameter, the top of the wheel being at the same height as the top edge of the plank 11. At the other end of the framework, there is provided a grooved pulley 24 of a considerably smaller diameter also with the upper edge of its periphery flush with the top of the plank 11. This pulley wheel is fixed to a shaft 25 journaled in fixed bracket bearings 26 attached to the framework. A similar pulley 24 is similarly fixed to a shaft 25', supported in similar fixed bracket bearings 26. Intermediate these two pulleys is a third pulley 27 which is attached to a shaft 28, journaling in a bearing 29 which is guided in ways 30 and moved by a screw-threaded adjusting member 31, having a handle 32, whereby the tension of theconveyor chain may be regulated.

The conveyor chain may be driven suitable means, for example the'arra'ngement shown in Fig. 2, comprising an electric motor 33 connected with a power sprocket wheel 34 by means of a chain 35. A small sprocket 36 is fast to the shaft of the powersprocket and is connected by a sprocket chain with a second large sprocket 37 to the shaft of which is attached the small driving sprocket 38 for the conveyor chain. U v.

The conveyor chain 8 is passeddown the center of the frame, being laid outialong the top of the member 11 in the groove of the wear plate 19, thence around the wheel 23 and back along the bottom of'the frame around a guide pulley 38' to the driving sprocket 38 and thence around the pulleys 24, 27 and 24 at the front of the machine. The chain preferably hangs slack along the bottom, its weight at this portion serving to keep the balance of the chain taut.

The endless chain is preferably constructed of fiat open links 39, as shown in Fig. 3. the top face of certain of the linksatspaced intervals along the length of the chain stick holders 42 are attached, preferablyby welding their side members 43 directly to the links. The members 43 embrace the sticks carried by the chain and serve to hold them in place as the chain moves along, the weight of the tobacco holding the sticks downwardly and preventing their jumping up off the chain."

When the crew is ready to run a lot through from the receiving room to the dryer,

gfan is mounted on top of the housing, the

the pile of baskets of tobacco are arranged'on each side of the machine-as shown Themetor is started, causing the conveyor to move; slowly along the top of the plank 11. .The

feed mechanism drops oneof the sticks 5 out of the hopper 4 and it is carried along thence by the chain resting on the holders 42, fitting in of its own accord between the side members 43. As the far end of the stick comes abreast the first pile or basket the man at that station takes up one of the bundles and, spreading the leaves, deposits a bundle on the stick with the leaves straddling the stick,

in the manner shown in Fig. 6.. Thebundle thus rests securely and in balance on the stick time the last man has straddled on a bundle from his lot, the desired blending has been accomplished and the batch of tobacco, hanging on the stick, is transferred directly from the end of the chain intothe drying machine.

by any."

' Thus the steps of blending and hangin are accomplished in one operation, there y eliminating the usual blending room and it's separate crew, usually quite a large number, relatively. By these means also, moving the room, and from this room to the redryer, is

the tobacco from the hanging room to thev redryer is also eliminated, as well as the heretofore inevitable matting caused by piling the tobacco on the trucks.

When desired, and especially'for localities where the growers or planters are in the habit of bringing in the bundles" without cleaning them, the present invention also includes the 'step of removing all foreign matter'from the bundles before-they are fed into the redryer, as in the redryer the dirt would be caked into the leaves in such a manner as to practically. spoil the leaves, though not so noticeably as I enough to ensure these leaves being observed.

and cast out in time. To this end the machine is provided with a cleaning mechanism through which each bundle passes just before it reaches the end of the chain 8.

This cleaning mechanism comprises a housing 44 built'over the conveyor near the end adjacent the,wheel 23 and provided in each of its side walls with heaters 45 arranged to knock the dirt from the tobacco leaves as they pass through the housing. An exhaust fan being driven from a pulley on the shaft of the sprocket 34. Each beater comprises an inclined shaft 46? supported in journals attached to the wall of the housing and continuously driven from the shaft of the sprocket 34 through bevel gears. Attached to each of the' shafts 46 are two series of oppositely extending fiapsf47 whose ends are tipped withserrated strips 48 of leather or soft fabric adapted as theshafts are rotated .to engage the tobacco leaves and dislodge the dirt and other foreign matter which is removed bythe exhaust 1145. The heaters are enclosed by semi-cylindrical covers 49.

- The performance of my improved method is not limited to the use'of the precise form ofapparatus shown in the drawings.as this may be modifiedin various ways within the scope ofmyinyention.

claim:

1. Apparatus for. preparing tobacco, comprising an'endless conveyor, means for-feed ing hanger sticks thereon, and means. for moving said conveyor continuously with said sticks in position for successively receiving bundlesof tobacco.

2. Apparatus for preparing tobacco arranged in longitudinal ranks, comprising a 70 batches from a blending room to a hanging I horizontally extending endless conveyor, said conveyor passing between the ranks of tobacco, a container for hanger-sticks above one end thereof, means for moving said conveyor continuously, and means for feeding sald hanger-sticks lengthwise onto said conveyor into position to facilitate hanging bundles of tobacco from said piles on each of said sticks as it is conveyed lengthwisebctween the ranks.

3. Apparatus for preparing tobacco arranged in piles in longitudinal ranks, comprising a horizontally extending endless conveyor, said conveyor passing between the ranks of tobacco, a container for hanger sticks above one end thereof, means for moving said conveyor continuously, means for feeding said hanger-sticks lengthwise onto said conveyor into position to facilitate hanging bundles of tobacco on each of said sticks as it passes lengthwise between the ranks, and means for maintaining the said hangersticks securely in lengthwise position on said conveyor.

4. Apparatus for preparing tobacco com-.

prising a frame, a narrow conveyor-supporting member extending longitudinally of said frame, conveyor-supporting wheels at the ends of said member, a narrow continuous flexible conveyor supported on said wheels and extending along the upper face of said member, and tobacco stick holders carried by said conveyor arranged to support sticks in parallelism with said conveyor.

5. Apparatus for preparing tobacco comprising a frame, a narrow conveyor-supporting member extending longitudinally of said frame, conveyor-supporting wheels at the ends of said member, a narrow continuous flexible conveyor supported on said wheels and extending along the upper face of said member,.tobacco stick holders carried by said conveyor arranged to'support sticks in parallelism with said conveyor, and means for feeding tobacco sticks to said holders.

6. Apparatus for preparing tobacco comprising a frame, a narrow conveyor-supporting member extending longitudinally of said frame, conveyor-supporting wheels at the ends ofsaid member, the intermediate portions of said frame and member. being composed of a series of connected units, a narrow continuous flexible conveyor supported on said wheels and extending along the upper face of said member, and tobacco stick holders carried by saidconveyor arranged to support sticks in parallelism with said conveyor.

7'. Apparatus for preparing tobacco comprising a frame, a narrow conveyor-supporting member extending longitudinally of said frame, conveyorsupporting wheels at the ends of said member, a narrow continuous flexible conveyor supported on said wheels and extending along the upper face of said member, tobacco stick holders carried by said conveyor arran ed to support sticks in parallelism with sai I conveyor, and troughs extending along each side of said member at a level below said conveyor.

8. Apparatus for preparing tobacco comprising a frame, a narrow conveyor-supportmg member extending longitudinally of said frame, conveyor-supporting wheels at the ends of said member, a narrow continuous flexible conveyor supported on said wheels and extending along the upper face of said member, tobacco stick holders carried by said conveyor arran ed to support sticks in para].- lelism with sai conveyor, and vertically adjustable trou hs extending along each side of said mem er at a level below said conveyor.

9. Apparatus for preparing tobacco comprising a frame, a narrow conveyor-support ing member extending longitudinally of said frame, conveyor-supporting wheels at the ends of said member, a narrow continuous flexible conveyor supported on said wheels and extending along the upper face of said member, tobacco stick holders carried by said conveyor arranged to support sticks in parallelism with said conveyor, and means supported in proximity to said conveyor for cleaning leaves of tobacco suspended from said sticks.

10. Apparatus for preparing tobacco comprising a frame, a narrow conveyor-supporting member extending longitudinally of said frame, conveyor-supporting wheels at the ends of said member, a narrow continuous flexible conveyor supported on said wheels and extending along the upper face of said member, tobacco stick holders carried by said conveyor arranged to support sticks in parallelism with said conveyor, and means supported in proximity to said conveyor for cleaning leaves of tobacco suspended from said sticks, said means comprising a housing enclosing a portion of said member, beaters mounted in said housing alongside said member beneath the level of said conveyor and an exhaust fan having its suction side connected to said housing.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature.

WILLIAM W. MICHAUX, JR. 

